Lautaro Martinez, Arthur & 15 summer transfer targets in Brazil & Argentina
The two South American giants have a rich pool of talent, and plenty of young stars will be followed by Europe's biggest clubs in the summer
The two South American giants have a rich pool of talent, and plenty of young stars will be followed by Europe's biggest clubs in the summer
It was a positive fortnight for the competition's Premier League contingent, with Liverpool and Manchester City in particular making a big impression
Southampton fans are delighted after it was revealed two Premier League clubs are interested in signing Mario Lemina this summer.
Lemina made the move to the Saints in 2017 from European giants Juventus – such a transfer meant there was much expected from the Gabon international. However, he ended up making just 52 appearances across two seasons, and didn’t manage to play more than 25 games in either of those campaigns (Transfermarkt). Since then, he has been on loan at Galatasaray and is now at Fulham on a temporary basis.
It seems he has no future at St. Mary’s Stadium. Fortunately, both West Ham United and Newcastle United are believed to be interested in purchasing the midfielder. The Guardian says that the south-coast outfit are looking for about £7m to let him go.
The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsfcViews, and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their delight, with fans clearly feeling the absolute best thing they can do now is cash in and forget he ever existed…
“Result”
Credit: @SpencerHoughts
“Feel free”
Credit: @RichardStowell2
“£7m? please please please”
Credit: @Chris_FN_Ward
“I will drive him there”
Credit: @snwilliams10
“On my knees”
Credit: @IngsIsKing
“Money in the bank – get the deal done.”
Credit: @justinaminute
In other news, Ralph Hasenhuttl reveals this failed Southampton swoop.
Leicester City have reportedly made a transfer offer to sign Ozan Tufan, according to Ajansspor.
As per the Turkish news outlet, they are one of five separate clubs to have made an official offer for the Fenerbahce ace, with Everton, Crystal Palace, Werder Bremen and Real Sociedad the others named.
Fenerbahce want at least €20m (£17m) if they are to let Tufan go, as they believe that he will increase his market value after the Euros.
The publication quote the Turkey international as saying that he wants to play in the Premier League, and so Brendan Rodgers’ team may have an advantage over some of the other sides in the chasing pack.
The East Midlands club should certainly consider signing Tufan in the summer transfer window as he would give another handy option in the middle of the park to add to the likes of Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison.
The 26-year-old was once likened to former Manchester City and top-flight star Yaya Toure back in 2016 by his own manager Victor Pereira, and if has anywhere near the sort of impact that the Ivorian powerhouse had during his time in the division, then the Foxes surely have no time to waste in getting his signature.
In other news, find out which talent compared to Dayot Upamecano LCFC are in an EPL race to sign here!
Mike Ashley should sanction a summer swoop for Newcastle United to sign Norwich City playmaker Todd Cantwell and acquire a second Allan Saint-Maximin type.
According to Football League World, the Magpies are monitoring Cantwell’s situation at Carrow Road as they are keen to bring the 23-year-old to St. James’ Park at the end of the season.
Cantwell will enter the final year of his £16,000-per-week contract in June, and is expected to be one of the more sought-after players should the England U21 international not agree on a new deal with the Canaries.
Cantwell’s future in Norfolk is likely to hinge heavily on Daniel Farke leading Norwich to an automatic return to the Premier League, with the midfielder anticipated to prioritise a top-flight future after his promising 2019/20 campaign.
Newcastle remaining a Premier League side will also be a factor in the Tyneside outfit making a move for Cantwell, as well, with his services unlikely to be explored should Steve Bruce fail to maintain the Toon’s current status.
Tottenham Hotspur are also noted to hold an interest in Cantwell, who Leeds United had sought to sign ahead of the current season but refused to up their £15m offer to meet Norwich’s alleged £20m valuation.
It remains to be seen how highly Norwich will value their academy product in the next off-season, and what impact promotion will have on Cantwell’s future, with Farke’s side currently 10 points clear at the top of the Championship table.
Cantwell has started 19 of his 22 second-tier outings this term, scoring four goals and providing four assists while deployed as a left-midfielder for 90% of his outings to date.
There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Cantwell’s future as Norwich look set to secure an immediate return to the Premier League, with Farke’s men on a seven-game winning run to put distance between themselves and promotion rivals Watford, Swansea City and Brentford.
Newcastle are well and truly in the Premier League relegation dogfight, too, with Bruce’s side just a point above 18th-place Fulham and the drop zone, albeit with a game in hand, having won just two of their last 16 top-flight fixtures.
But should United limp through their final 11 games and stay in the Premier League for another year, Ashley should sanction a move for Cantwell, even though funds are expected to be small.
Doing so could see Ashley bring a second Saint-Maximin type to St. James’ Park, for Cantwell is showing in the second-tier the quick-footed and fast-thinking style that the Magpies star displays week in, week-out in black and white.
Working in small pockets of space to good effect was exactly what Saint-Maximin thrived at against Wolverhampton Wanderers last month, having produced a great piece of skill to take on three players and set up Joe Willock before later sustaining a groin injury.
Cantwell – who Darren Huckerby once lauded for always being “the most gifted” player in any side he played for – also found it within himself to bounce back from a complex 2020, having taken responsibility for Norwich’s relegation to go on and lead their promotion push.
If the chance to sign Cantwell is there for Newcastle this summer, Ashley must dig deep into his pocket and present the funds United need to strike a deal for a young, hungry, English talent like this.
AND in other news, Newcastle United eye £2m titan who “makes the people he’s playing with better”…
As Benji Kimpioka wheeled away after scoring in the 90th minute to rescue a draw with Coventry in 2019, it felt like a landmark moment.
11 months on from when Josh Maja had been sold, a member of Sunderland’s academy was scoring goals again.
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, he has not scored for the senior team in league action since.
Chances have been hard to come by for Kimpioka, a young talent who swapped Swedish shores for the north-east of England in 2016.
It was in Scandinavia where he learned the game, but it’s at Sunderland where he’s been developed and tailored.
That being said, it has not been an easy ride for the striker, someone who has struggled to make a sufficient impression under both Jack Ross and Phil Parkinson.
Ross was the man to give him his senior debut but he’s not kicked on and has also had his troubles with injury.
Speaking in October 2018, just over a year before he scored his first league goal, Ross commented: “He’s an enigma at times. He’s got really good attributes. It’s just about trying to piece it all together.”
Indeed, not a single manager has been able to piece them together until recently. Kimpioka has been busy making a big impression for Elliott Dickman’s U23s but his season hasn’t been without its setbacks.
The talented forward didn’t even have a club at the beginning of the term. He was out of contract with the Black Cats and even went back to his native Sweden to train with his former club, IK Sirius.
He eventually penned new terms at the Stadium of Light in October and immediately hit the ground running, scoring four goals in five Premier League 2 outings.
A hamstring injury in November proved another setback, but we’re starting to see signs of a revival. He was among the substitutes bench for the EFL Trophy final at Wembley just over a week ago which clearly shows Lee Johnson has him on his radar.
The arrival of Ross Stewart has damaged the potential of further senior minutes but with Will Grigg out on loan, there is a spot in the first-team with Kimpioka’s name on it.
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If he continues to score with great regularity for the U23s, there’s no reason he can’t make an impression at first team level. After all, Johnson has already handed minutes to the likes of Dan Neil and Ollie Younger.
Could Kimpioka be the next in line? You should hope so. The forward has proven he can hit the back of the net this season and Sunderland are surely done with Grigg.
Therefore, the youngster should be unleashed next season instead.
According to The Daily Mail, Southampton could move to sign free agent Ahmed Musa as West Bromwich Albion struggle to get a deal over the line.
It seemed the 28-year-old was on the verge of completing a move to The Hawthorns – he was said to have even had a medical (Football Insider) – but it now seems the Midlands outfit do not have the funds to get the deal done.
As the Baggies flounder, Ralph Hasenhuttl and co are said to be interested in signing the Nigeria international just a number of days after bringing in Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino on loan.
With Danny Ings and Che Adams to rely on up front, you would think that Hasenhuttl would be happy with his forward options. However, the arrival of Minamino indicates that the Austrian wants to improve things in the final third, and Musa could be an astute bargain signing.
While he had a disappointing spell with Leicester City, Musa has 88 career goals to his name (Transfermarkt) and has netted four times across two World Cups. Capable of playing on either wing as well as centre-forward, he would provide Southampton with some versatility that could be welcome as they look to kick on again after defeats to Manchester United and Newcastle.
Should the deal to take Musa to West Brom fall apart completely, the Saints should be waiting to pick up the pieces.
In other news, Southampton fans slammed this man against Newcastle.
Leeds United have been linked with central defender Nicolas N’Koulou as they head into the summer transfer window. The Whites are browsing for new defensive personnel to stack up their options after injury woes have left them short this season.
For a large chunk of the 2020/21 campaign, Marcelo Bielsa has been without summer recruits Robin Koch and Diego Llorente due to their respective fitness problems. This has forced the boss to deploy Luke Ayling at centre-back and whilst he has been reliable in an unfamiliar role, Bielsa cannot rely on him for the inevitable. It’s paramount that Leeds assert their dominance once again on the transfer market and make sure that they are fully prepared for another exciting season in the Premier League.
Calciomercato reports that N’Koulou is on Bielsa’s radar, having already worked with him in Marseille (via TEAMtalk). Currently at Torino, the defender is close to running down his current contract and will become a free agent in the summer, nulling his £6.3million valuation. Despite racking up a total of 128 appearances for his current club, he has somewhat struggled for game time this season, being demoted to the bench for 11 Serie A fixtures, as per Transfermarkt.
With Bielsa already clued up on N’Koulou’s attitude and style of play, he is an ideal scoop for Leeds. With 72 caps for his native Cameroon as well, he is a typical veteran of the game both domestically and internationally.
Looking closer at his stats, WhoScored shows that the 30-year-old has averaged more interceptions and clearances than both Liam Cooper and Koch this season, as well as giving away the least amount of fouls per game. He averages the same amount of blocks as Koch and N’Koulou also boasts a higher passing accuracy out of the three.
For Andrea Radrizzani, it should be an easy decision when looking at a proven international who has already worked with Bielsa and won’t cost him a penny come the summer. The Whites need to add depth to their squad and it should be easy work to entice a free agent to the Premier League to play for a very exciting club that could push for Europa League football.
In other news, Leeds must prepare to sign replacement for exit-linked Struijk…
Liverpool lost their second home game in a row with their 1-0 defeat to Brighton on Wednesday night.
Steven Alzate scored the only goal of the game for the visitors in what was a shock win, but very much deserved, as the Reds suffered another hit in the Premier League title race.
There has been plenty of talk about the Reds’ injuries, but The Athletic’s James Pearce had a bone to pick with Jurgen Klopp regarding his decisions from who was available for the game.
The German tactician opted to go for a midfield three that consisted of Thiago Alcantara, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum, leaving out Curtis Jones, who had put in a fine showing against West Ham United.
Replying to a fan during a Q&A session, Pearce could not understand why Jones didn’t start the game.
He said: “Not sure about [Ben] Davies as he’s only just in the door but Jones should have started. It was so flat and I’m sure fatigue played a part in that.”
It’s a fair point to raise from Pearce, considering how Jones changed the game almost immediately at the London Stadium.
But Klopp did highlight fatigue as one of the factors of the defeat – which could also be an indication why the Melwood graduate didn’t feature in the initial eleven.
Even after Jones came on – he could not make an impact due to how well Graham Potter had set up his Brighton side. Whether he will get an opportunity from the start against Manchester City remains to be seen.
In other news, Star defender gutted to miss out dream Liverpool move on Deadline Day.
Raul Jimenez’s absence from the Wolves team while he recovers from a fractured skull has been all too clear.
Since he’s been out injured, Fabio Silva has scored just twice while Adama Traore and Willian Jose are yet to find the net all term in Wolves colours. Thus, new recruits are needed in the summer.
Wolves tried their best to replace the goals of Jimenez in January but Jose clearly hasn’t done that very well.
Whether they enter the market for another striker remains to be seen but they are targeting a wide player if you believe reports.
Football Insider claimed over the weekend that the Midlands outfit have set their sights on signing Goncalo Guedes from Valencia.
It’s understood that the Spanish side are likely to sell him in the summer after they had funding withdrawn by owner Peter Lim.
West Ham are also reportedly interested in the player who is currently rated at £13.5m by Transfermarkt. The Portugal international may have to significantly reduce his salary in order to complete a move though. The Jorge Mendes client currently earns £101k-per-week in La Liga.
A young Portuguese player on the books of Mendes appears to tick all the boxes when playing Wolves transfer bingo.
Some players are often wide of the mark but Guedes has the potential to be a real star at Molineux. His style of play suits the Old Gold and he’d fit into a side who like to operate with crafty playmakers and dazzling dribbles.
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Guedes certainly fits that mantra and if you combine his qualities and the positions he plays in, he has Pedro Neto written all over him.
The Valencia attacker has the ability to play on both flanks while he’s also incredibly capable of starring in a number 10 role.
He has predominantly played off the left flank in 2020/21 but only has four goals to his name in all competitions. That being said, his contributions have arguably merited more.
Guedes has managed 1.5 shots per game this term, a tally only bettered by Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez and indeed Neto at Wolves. Meanwhile, his 1.9 dribbles per match is just 0.3 fewer than Neto’s tally.
Wolves’ Portuguese sensation has had a stellar campaign but they need more numbers in attack if Nuno is to ever take this team to the next level. He has tried and failed to do that by switching the club’s normal formation so perhaps new recruits could change their fortunes instead.
Speaking about the winger, Luis Figo once said: “Guedes is a fast, irreverent and unpredictable player, who himself builds actions for his teammates and is also able to finish well.”
Possessing eye-catching levels of pace, he has the abilities to stretch defences just as Neto does. This would be a smart move from Wolves providing they can afford the finances.
A glowing review from Figo tells you all you need to know.